Desperation motivates TJs to stay in the hunt
TONBRIDGE Juddians head coach Pete Dankert hailed an “outstanding all round squad and coaching performance”, as Rams fell to only their second defeat of the league campaign after a hardfought battle at the Slade.
In a game that TJs knew they had to win to stay in touch with the battle for the National 2 South play-off spot it was perhaps their desperation that gave them the edge in a tight encounter.
The home side started better and controlled territory and possession, resulting in an early Will Robinson penalty - swiftly followed by a Murray Galbraith-Lowe try from a pin-point Robinson kick.
It took until the second quarter for Rams to gain a foothold in the TJs half and their pressure told as Charlie Edwards saw yellow for the hosts before Tom Vooght crossed for the visitors. A series of catchand-drives followed by relentless forward carries was eventually finished by Vooght and converted by Tom Humberstone.
A second Rams score in a similar fashion, this time from Ben Henderson, went unconverted but was enough to see the table-toppers head to half-time with the lead, despite Robinson’s second penalty on the stroke of half-time reducing the gap to a single point.
The second half began with TJs fly-half Robinson using the wind to good effect, pinning Rams in the corner, but it took until the hour mark for the secondhalf deadlock to be broken and it was worth the wait.
TJs moved the ball from left to right and outstanding interplay and offloading involving Duncan Tout, Tommy
Nicoll and Toby May sent May over for a try-of-theseason contender. Robinson converted and ten minutes later TJs struck the decisive blow.
Matas Jurevicius carried strongly into the heart of the Rams defence and quick ball was moved wide to send Tout over.
Robinson converted again and TJs had a 25-12 advantage with less than ten minutes to play. Rams battled hard and winger Connor Corrigan scored in the final play, with Humberstone’s conversion giving Rams something to take away in the form of a losing bonus point.
Rams head coach Seb Reynolds commented: “It was a very, very good performance for TJs today.
“They were highly motivated to stay in the hunt and played some good rugby. This league is full of quality teams that want to perform week in, week out and we dropped our level and allowed a top side to take the spoils.
“However, I was proud of the way we got the bonus point at the end but credit must go to TJs who thoroughly deserved the victory.”
Canterbury closed the gap to Rams to 12 points with their win at Clifton, with Juddians seven points behind in third.